I’ve written several times about how the numbers on irons don’t mean much, because there are no standards for what loft and length a 9-iron should be, or what the specs on a 5-iron should be, etc. And it seems that the entire industry is advertising their new irons this year as longer than the other guys’. Then yesterday we were working with a customer on their irons’ specs and distances, followed by an afternoon session with one of our younger players at the club who was insistent on hitting the shortest iron possible into every green.

All of that boiled around in my head, and I came up with an idea for all of you to think about. I’ll call it “Golf By The Numbers”. So here’s the premise.

No matter how long or short you are, the game can be dissected down to a series of shots of a given distance in order to hit fairways and greens. Regardless of what club you might have in your hand from 135, let’s say, you need to know how to hit the ball precisely that distance, right? And there are no “bonus points” for doing it with a club that has a “P” on the bottom, rather than one with an “9”. And no penalty if it had an “8” or even “7”. If you can hit it the prescribed distance, you can play pretty good golf.

As I was explaining to the customer, you can build your optimum set of clubs by first creating your own “Personal Distance Chart”. In any round of golf, you will find yourself with no less than 18 approach shots, and all will be a different distance to the desired landing area, whether that is the flag or a spot on the green where you have more room for error.

And to play your best golf, you need to know how which club to pull to hit the ball any of those given distances. My premise is that you need a club in your bag to produce . . . with a normal full swing . . . the following carry distance:

75-80 yards
85-90 yards
95-100 yards
105-110 yards
120-125 yards
135-140 yards
150-155 yards
165-170 yards
180-185 yards
200-205 yards
220-225 yards
225+ yards (DRIVER)

That would give you 13 clubs, plus your putter, and fill out your bag.

You’ll notice that I have suggested 10 yard gaps in the shorter ranges, 15 yards in the middle, and 20 yard gaps at the longer end of the set. The reason for that is simple. When you are 85 yards from the hole, your target is smaller. You want the ball close to the hole to save par or make birdie. The ten-yard gap only leaves you 15 feet long or short, which is a makeable putt. At the long end of the set, however, when you find yourself over 180 yards to the target, you generally have a bigger target area and relaxed expectation for distance precision. Being 30-35 feet long or short of the target is generally quite good. And in the middle, 15-20 feet long or short is totally workable. Besides, by simply gripping down on the club by ½ to ¾ inch, you’ll cut those distance gaps in half, giving you all the precision you need.

I’ll grant you that you can tweak these numbers a bit, maybe 5 yards this way or that, to suit your own game, but if you have big gaps at the short end, and small gaps at the long end, maybe you should look into tweaking your iron specs, removing/adding a club or two, to get the precision better golf requires.

This will give you all something to think about . . . and sound off about. I’m looking forward to that, as I always do.

Terry Koehler is "The Wedge Guy" and President of SCOR Golf- The Short Game Company.

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